Year of The Dragon Arc 1 : Legend of RedEyes
by Atlusa
Summary: They say change is for the better, but this change was far too much for humanity to cope with. Now it falls to one 'man' to act as the savior for hundreds and to offer some faint hope for their future. Yaoi, J/S and various, warnings within.
1. Prologue : Documentation of Explanation

Disclaimer : I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh, GX or 5Ds in any way, shape or form.

Warnings : AU, violence, gore, death, racism, torture, yaoi, mpreg. Rated M for mature.

Author Notes : This will be a lengthy story arc which I hope to have finished out before 2012 is over, with due reason if the title is anything to go by. Do not worry, you won't have to wait till 2024 for Arc 2 at least. If any of the above does not appeal to you, then do not read. As far as pairings go, the core pairing of the Arc is what's in the FFnet placement, otherwise it should be fairly obvious. This is not affiliated with the LORE story by Reppa. 

Year of The Dragon

Arc 1 : Legend of Red-Eyes

Prologue : A Documentation of Explanation 

_2012 had been the year. It was the year that, according to the Chinese calendar, belonged to the Dragon. It was also the year that the Mayan calendar supposedly ended and with it the end of the world. Man…The Year of The Dragon. That was so absolutely fitting it was unreal…  
><em>

_But let's talk about the whole Mayan calendar bit…People believed cataclysmic or even events that would bring about a transformation would take place that year. It was all the rage, one of those Armageddon hypes, like the whole Y2K deal. Some said it would be the start of a time when Earth and its people would undergo a physical or spiritual transformation, marking the beginning of a new era. Others said it marked the end of the world as we knew it. The planets would align, solar flares causing a geomagnetic reversal, or amazingly enough a planet ramming into the Earth. Honestly, there were well over a dozen theories. A lot of it was dismissed by scholars, astronomers and scientists. _

_They had no idea what would actually happen though._

_Now I'm not saying that the world ended like it did in all of those doomsday movies and crackpot theories. Far from it. There was no fire and brimstone, sinking cities or flooding lands. The weather was certainly crazy, even to the point hundreds of thousands, maybe even a million or two, died as the year went. Not like The Day After Tomorrow proportions, but there are some similarities. There were widespread tragedies perpetrated by Mother Nature, there were unspeakable acts from the shores of California to the isles of Japan, there was a senseless war on the horizon. But none of that was what ended the world that we knew, most of that actually came afterwards, much later in the year. What had kicked everything off..._

_It was a change among mankind._

_It was a significant change that had come about that made mankind treat his own, or former own, no better than animals. If anything, they were treated worse than animals. At the dawn of our new era, we were no better than lab rats. We were herded like cattle into cages, experimented on... The spent, maimed carcasses were tossed into unmarked pits like we were casualties of the Plague, though technically to them, we were. We were treated like pariahs when it turned out we were infected with it. People were scared to get it, frightened of the change. Granted, they had some pretty good reasons to be afraid._

_Dragon-Blight, so they called it. They considered it a blight. It made you anything but human. We too first thought it was a blight, a curse. I wanted nothing more than to go back to being the way I was. Shit happens though._

_When many of the infected realized their fate, they were seized by fear. They hid away, disappearing into the shadows. Some killed themselves, by the bullet or the pavement. Others embraced it, even sought it out. They reveled in the power they eventually got from it. Although some of them were rather dangerous to boot._

_When the transformation came, it was long and painful. In most cases, it killed the infected when the mutation just went too far off the track and what was left was far from recognizable or pretty. Infected were first hit with flu-like symptoms. They'd feel like they got hit by a train, their eyes would be all puffy and they would be horribly flushed...Over time they became overcome with crippling pain that radiated from the bone out. The skin became scarlet red from irritation, flesh burned like it was on fire, bones broke and shifted and grew on their own. Their heads, gums and fingers bled as weapons literally grew out of their flesh. Sometimes the pain drove them crazy, feral, if the change took too long to finish and that was the only time I would say mankind's fear was justifiable. It was called Dragon-Blight for a reason._

_Other fears of it were, of course, understandable. With the threat of a feral, or even a sane one on the defensive, coming along and biting you…Humans considered Dragon-Blight a species killer. For whatever reason, and I am no scientist by any means, women didn't change from it. They either got really sick and in some way debilitated by it or they died. I would wager that maybe it's some internal chemistry that winds up backfiring on them. My sis, my poor, poor sis…Well, I need to stay on track for this. In any case, humans figured that if the Blight kept spreading, then they would die out and us as well, given time._

_As it went though, some of us caught wise and we learned things that they did not, even with their cutting us open like science experiments. We realized we weren't really cursed, we were blessed. We were the next evolutionary step on the ladder for humanity. Well, maybe not. Maybe it's more like we jumped their ship onto our own ship and said goodbye. We were stronger, faster. We were nature's allies. One of us could single-handedly decimate over a dozen of them...Provided they didn't have guns mind you. We're not exactly bullet-proof. We were leaner machines, expending less energy and thus requiring less intake. We thrived in extremes on the bare minimum while they were left to struggle and waste away. I believe that in all actuality, it was more fear of us than fear of becoming like us that made mankind continue to despise us. I recall one time, I was talking with Kaiba, he said something about humans no longer being the ultimate apex predator. I didn't really know what the term meant at the time, I hadn't really cared. _

_Now that I'm older and wiser, it makes a hell of a lot of sense. I feel kind of bad for humans…They're too stupid to know when to stop digging their own graves. It's a constant push and push, and while we're being rather forgiving for all of the suffering they put us through...I think the majority of us are starting to hit out limits. It'll only be a matter of time before we give them something to really be afraid of...__With all of that said and done, I took the liberty of having the next several pages sort of document how we got to where we are today from when the insanity all started. I'd recommend a seat and a meat shank while you're reading. When you're done, whelp, you'll be a little wiser. You'll come to understand why I'm such a hardass and why we do the things we do. From here on out, humanity's woes are not our problem. Only safety, only survival. For now. Soon enough, glory and security will be ours._

_Win, thrive, conquer, survive._

_~ Jonouchi_


	2. Chapter 1 : As It Began

Disclaimer : I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh, GX or 5Ds in any way, shape or form.

Warnings : AU, violence, gore, death, racism, torture, yaoi, mpreg. Rated M for mature. 

Year of The Dragon

Arc 1 : Legend of Red-Eyes

Chapter 1: As It Began 

Life was-Well, it could be better. It could always be better, but it could also always be worse. The middle ground wasn't so bad.

Shortly before he had finished school, his father had passed away due to liver failure. Color Jonouchi surprised. He had figured it was only a matter of time, but he was still fairly shocked it had been so soon. He was also surprised with how resigned to the fact he was and how little it really affected him. Having half-empty beer bottles thrown at you and rolling over an unconscious drunk at night on a regular basis probably did that to a guy. In the end, the loss was a blessing as well as a curse. On the upside, he could make home feel more like home and maybe even invite friends over finally. Unfortunately, his father's debts and the task of paying rent came with it, forcing him to juggle a night job as well as finish school, the latter which he did by the skin of his ass.

While most of his friends zipped off to the four corners of the world, Anzu went to America while Honda started college up north. Yugi had gone to a public university for Archeology. Otogi was running his shop full time and Ryou was…Well, Jonouchi didn't keep up with him too well. Jonouchi himself had neither the time nor the funding, thanks to always scraping by with a passing grade, to do college of any sort and wound up going straight into work. It wasn't so bad though, he had technically started apprenticing with his mechanic friend at their auto-shop, and shortly after Honda had joined him at work there as well. Mai…Well, they were up and down, it was a crazy relationship.

It was a no-brainer what his rival had gone on to do…Kaiba ate, slept and literally breathed his company and after that final day of school they never saw one another in person again for a good chunk of time. Once in a while, Jonouchi would see his mug on the television and be reminded of the fights they had. He came to miss those actually. Sometimes he was left sighing at the CEO's image on the screen, feeling like there was a hole in his existence and apparently that was it. After realizing that, he had made it a habit of learning when the rich bastard would do public appearances and tried to make the ones he could. The first time it worked and their gazes met, it was like the good old days. _'Dumb mutt' _here, _'Rich Bitch' _there, and a dash of _'Eat Me' _and Jonouchi was more than content.

Life was good, it certainly could be better, but he wasn't going to complain.

* * *

><p>"Done and done." Tossing aside a dirty rag, he made the mistake of wiping his brow with the back of his hand, which was still wearing the oil soaked glove. He didn't notice till a glance in the window after a laugh and a point from Honda that he had caked the stuff across his nose and in his hair. "Bitch-nuggets."<p>

Some of the other guys also had a good laugh at his expense as they closed up the shop for the evening. Once he had washed off his face and any other oil-tainted patches of skin, he gathered his things and was off on his way home. Not having a car just yet, at least the auto shop was a comfortable walking distance from his apartment. With a satchel casually tossed over his shoulder, he walked down the darkening streets as the lights were coming on with the onset of night.

"Huh?" He glanced over, seeing a long black limousine lazily trail up beside him out of the blue, making him wonder when it had come around. As the back passenger window lined up next to him, the heavily tinted window lowered to reveal a pair of intense blue eyes staring at him. Kaiba. But what was Kaiba doing ther-Dumb question, he lived in Domino too after all. If he were less mesmerized with the other's brilliant eyes, he would have hit his forehead with his hand. But instead he just stared at him, coming to a stop which the limo did as well, "Uh…What?"

That felt like an equally dumb question, especially as the brunette arched a delicate brow. He looked unusually…relaxed, almost serene, like he was more than ready and accepting a nice weekend of leisure after many hardcore days of work. He was dressed in a crisp white business suit, the dress shirt underneath being a robin blue with a much darker shade coloring the tie he wore. "I'm don't see why I am extending the invitation to you of all people, then again I don't think it would really be the same without my mutt there to provide comical entertainment." Lifting his arm and with a flick of his wrist, he threw the blond a sealed envelope which he caught in his free hand. Kaiba smirked, his tone neutral. "RSVP and try to dress decently. If I have to, I'll drag you somewhere and get you something if need be."

Jonouchi just blinked in awed confusion. His mutt? Since when was he Kaiba's mutt? And what was he supposed to dress for? Was he serious about getting him clothes? The idea of shopping with Kaiba was kind of scary. Wait…What the fuck was going on? "Uh…" Before he could actually come up with a proper response, Kaiba's window had rolled up and the limo was driving away at a picked up pace. He reasoned the busy day must have kicked his ass pretty thoroughly, or he would have been timelier with his reaction to the strange thing that just happened. Opening the envelope, he looked over the invitation. It was some spring festival party Kaiba was throwing apparently. That actually sounded kind of interesting. The corner of his mouth twitched before he grinned. Then he frowned, remembering what Kaiba said about dressing decently. Apparently it was casual nice and casual nice to Kaiba could be borderline formal for all he knew, which was what Jonouchi didn't typically do. He was also curious as to why Kaiba was having a party like that and why he was inviting him. It could be a trap or it could be some casual corporate function where the CEO would have to act all prim and proper, in which case, his inviting the blond made strange sense.

A distraction to poke fun at.

Well, he couldn't really blame him for that line of thinking. Kaiba didn't seem to get as much of a kick out of teasing anyone as he did with him. Maybe they would have a duel, it had been long enough and Jonouchi was eager to show off the new monsters he had gotten a hold of, one of which he was certain would whoop Blue-Eyes in it's scaly tail. "I guess I can think about it…Looks like I have a month to get around to…RPing or whatever he said." RSVP, he corrected himself, RSVP. Man, he was going to stick out like a sore thumb.

Shrugging as he pocketed the invitation, he resumed walking along home. It was the usual same old, same old. The only oddity was Kaiba's passing visit. Some of the fancier restaurants he passed were lined up out the door, some boutiques were closing up for the night as well, cars zoomed by as people filed up and down the busy section of town. Once he neared the apartment building he lived in, things were less crowded and slightly more rural.

A rustling followed by errant rambling made him freeze as he started to make his way past the side of the apartment building his home was located. His brown eyes shifted towards the thick brush that grew in the untamed portions that were to the west of the complex. He'd been back there with the others many times, wild shrubbery, trees and even sand pits he assumed were man-made. On the rare occasion, he'd seen cats out there and one time at night he saw what looked like a greyhound run off into the darkness there. This however sounded more human than animal. "Hello?" He had never seen any transients in the area before. Sure, his neck of the woods was a little poor, but they didn't seem prone to coming down there. The wild rural jungle didn't seem like a very human friendly spot too, who knew what was crawling in there.

There was an unintelligible mutter as more bushes shifted in response and he was quite certain he was dealing with a human. "Hey, pal, I wouldn't recommend you hunkerin' down in that spot, never know what creepy crawlies there are." Jonouchi warned, stepping over lazily towards the mass of mixed shrubberies. He reached out gingerly, pushing some back with his free hand as he kept the rest of his body back, not wanting to leave himself open if the potential spaz had a knife.

"He-OW!" The blond yelped and jerked his hand back. The fucker bit him. He bit him! Coddling his hand, he stumbled back a few steps, hearing a grumble and more rambling. The brush shook violently and the sounds from whoever, or whatever, grew distant. It was weird, but it sounded like something had galloped off but he couldn't make heads or tails of it. Grimacing, the blond looked at his hand, not seeing much damage besides a puncture wound that scraped to the side. It wasn't too deep and the bleeding seemed to be at a minimal. Regardless, he scowled as he yelled after the bastard, "Fuck you too! I hope ya fall asleep on an anthill, ya bum!"

* * *

><p>"Man, dude, I'm totally sorry but I feel like…I have never felt this bad in my life really. I wanna say it's the flu but it's really whoopin' my ass here. Is there any problem with my takin' a few days to get it out of my system?" Jonouchi gave an audible snort of a sniff despite being on the phone. It was well over a week since the bite incident as well as his visit to a hospital where he was dubbed in good condition. After that was dealt with, he had called the number on the invitation to go ahead and RSVP for the party. Now he was wondering if he would have to change his mind since the longer he stayed sick, the more work he would miss and thus the more he would have to make up for.<p>

"You better hope it's the flu and not that super virus everyone's whispering about. Sure as fuck you can, cause I don't fucking want it. See you when you're better."

That was encouraging. "Yeah, uh, thanks?" Jonouchi wasn't sure what a super virus was and he wasn't sure he wanted to know. But with it said, he figured he had to look into it regardless. His curiosity would demand it. Would that mean he would have to go back to the hospital? He hoped not, the doctor there had been something of a prick.

Sighing, Jonouchi put his phone back on the charger and went over to the semi-ancient desktop he had in his room. Once it was on and he was net surfing, he started to Google search the whole super virus deal. Most of what he found was theory sites and gibberish, though many of the details matched from site to site and Jonouchi wasn't sure he felt any better about the whole thing. First of all, it was easily mistaken for the flu…at first. Then things worsened from there, such as debilitating leg and back pain, inflamed, breaking skin and more. Some of the sites said it mutated you into a monster, at which point Jonouchi went full-blown skeptic. Right, so now there was something turning people into mutants? Hello, X-Men. Closing his net, the blond shook his head. Stupid. He had the flu or a brutal sinus cold, nothing more.

Later that day, he made call number two in order to put a damper on several plans. His and Mai's to be exact. This was one time when they were on, but he had a feeling they would be off once he told her he was sick and couldn't make their date. Fifteen minutes later and some vehement arguing, sure enough, they were off again. His refusing to indulge a guilt trip was what did it this time. _'For fuck's sake...' _Mai had certainly changed from when they first met, but she still had her selfishly childish moments. She was rather high maintenance, in his opinion, which made things difficult.

He didn't dwell too long over the argument, though thinking of arguments in general made his mind wander elsewhere. Off and on, the image of a strikingly pretty and unusually serene face kept coming to mind. Fricking Kaiba. For a guy, the brunette had a face to die for. Physically, as he could testify from their occasional scraps, the man was toned and pretty tough. There was just enough color to his skin that made his paleness attractive and his blue eyes, well, words really did them no justice. As far as personality went, he was pretty impassive unless he was pissed, smug, or mocking someone. But surprisingly, Kaiba usually had good intentions for most of the things he did, even if he used bad methods sometimes. He was also generous to the underprivileged children bereft of parents as he let them attend Kaiba Land for free and he had his hands in various charities far and wide. Kaiba was just plain difficult, which for some reason that both infuriated and attracted him.

As far as men went and his own sexuality, Jonouchi wasn't sure how exactly attracted he would feel. Curves and an ample bosom were always welcome, they were easy on the eyes and a treat, but that felt like the only different factor between the two spectrums for him. To him, Mai and Kaiba were on an equal level of attractiveness physically, with obvious differences between them. Personality-wise, they weren't that far apart either, though Mai was more prone to moments of sweetness and Kaiba…well.

'_And I'm doing comparison thinking now? Besides, I doubt Kaiba swings that way…or any way for that matter.' _In the time since he met the arrogant bastard, he never once really saw him take much interest in someone beyond humiliating or beating them. He wasn't sure if that was how the other man got his kicks actually, so that might explain some things. But no, he was assuming too much and his mind was wandering rampantly.

Deciding it made for a good enough excuse, even though there was a part of him that genuinely wanted to go, he'd turn around and call off his party invite. Once he dialed the number, he waited to see if anyone would answer but it simply went to a voicemail. Well, he felt bad for leaving a message especially the sort he was leaving but if he did it anyway, he wouldn't have anything to worry about later. "Uh, yeah, sorry Kaiba but I'mma have to change my mind. Been sick now an' missin' work an' I'll have to make up what I can when this is over. So take me off of whatever guest list and junk. Thanks, bye…" Jonouchi made a face. What a lame message was that. A little voice in the back of his head said he sounded like a whipped dog…so he told it to shove it.

'_Too tired…to really care actually…' _His eyelids felt impossibly heavy and his eyes were blurry with moisture. It wasn't even nine in the evening and he felt ready to pass out. With a sigh of defeat, the weary blond dragged himself off to bed for the night. With some cold medicine in hand, he was ready to fight this cold.

Or try to anyway.

* * *

><p>A change of mind was unacceptable.<p>

Seto Kaiba scowled when he had received the message that Jonouchi had changed his mind. It would not do, he insisted the mongrel come. He practically demanded it. Or he would, if the pup managed to answer his phone. He had tried for a couple days now to call the blond back but he wasn't getting any sort of response. It was irritating beyond reason.

"Well, try to call him again. I don't care how many times it takes." He snapped at his secretary, slamming the phone back down on the receiver. It had been a couple days worth of trying and he was about ready to send someone over there, wherever the mutt lived. Calling the police to put the scare into him sounded like a good idea too. Despite how badly he wanted to bludgeon the blond with something blunt, it was merely a personal front to veil his worry. Indeed, he was worried. Jonouchi was not the sort to take being called everything under the sun on his phone's recording machine and not call back with a slew of insults himself. But he hadn't called back let alone answered and it concerned him.

'Was I too congenial the other day? Should I have been more aggressive? Maybe I should have gotten out of the car and into his face, it's not like I haven't gone to a meeting with a black eye before.' It was rather funny how he had to explain that one the last time it happened. As weird as it was, Jonouchi added some needed spice to his life and he wanted to get some of it back after the lengthy absence. When the other had accepted the invitation, to which he was pleasantly surprised, he had figured that on some level the mutt felt the same way.

Of course, there was no way he would fully feel the same way in other regards. Despite his impassive, smirking look, the brunette had eyed the blond a little. He looked like he had toned up a little more and he must have been doing some manner of manual labor if the sheen of sweat and some traces of oil meant anything. As embarrassing as it would be to admit out loud, which he would never do, he looked quite good. When he gave him the invitation, he considered how the mutt would look in a casual suit, sans the tie with a few undone buttons…His exact train of thought had been _'Black dress shirt, dark charcoal suit with crimson pinstripes, oh my gawd…svelte, beefcake puppy.' _Kaiba could certainly work with that.

Then within a short while, he had suddenly changed his mind, claiming he was sick. The news did not sit well with the brunette. Being sick was no excuse for him, because he doubted the blond would be sick for more than three weeks. Granted, he could understand the need to put work before entertainment and he couldn't really fault him for wanting to make up hours, but still, it was a month away. So it left Seto wondering if he had done something wrong at the start, then he wondered if the third-rate duelist had lost his backbone over the past couple years. Not knowing what the deal was with the blond was now irritating the hell out of him.

Plagued with confusion, worry and anger, he went back to his little self-appointed project on his laptop, fingers furiously dancing over the keys. Work helped put him at ease to a degree. He breathed deeply, eyes focused solely on the words and numbers filling his screen. _'I will not be brushed off or avoided. When I see him, I'm giving him a long overdue ass kicking of epic proportions!'_

End of Chapter 1


	3. Chapter 2 : Less Human Than Human

Disclaimer : I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh, GX or 5Ds in any way, shape or form.

Warnings: AU, violence, gore, death, racism, torture, yaoi, mpreg. Rated M for mature. 

Year of The Dragon

Arc 1 : Legend of Red-Eyes

Chapter 2: Less Human Than Human 

'_Kill me now…'_

Jonouchi had suffered through his fair share of pain. From when he was young until he could fight back, his father always had a tendency to beat the tar out of him in one of his drunken fits. All his life as a punk, he got into fights on a regular basis and taken his licks only to come back for more. More than once, he had been blasted by monsters in Shadow Games. He had fulfilled the role of a legendary knight despite how rough that had gotten.

But this…this was downright inhuman.

Sprawled on the floor on his stomach partially in his bathroom, the blond had long since given up on moving anything. It just hurt too much. His back and legs were especially painful. The sound of soft, muffled crunching now and then was accompanied with excruciating agony, making him whimper as his eyes watered. That crunching noise scared him. A lot. It scared him as much as the blood that oozed through his hair as something started to grow after puncturing through his scalp and what filled his mouth as his gums seemed to tear. Freakishly enough a tooth or two had fallen out. Another was loose and would soon do the same. But he could feel the tiny tips of sharp teeth that were growing at a frightening pace in their place.

He avoided looking at his hands and feet. Last time he had looked, the skin around his fingernails and knuckles had slowly started to split and bleed. After a little while, it almost seemed like he was growing claws. A quick glance at his feet and lower legs showed them looking almost mangled, like he had been in an accident. It was like they were being bent backward from the knee down and growing, while his foot had broken just before the heel and was doing the same.

'_Not again!' _He growled, hearing the phone go off for what seemed like the hundredth time. It was like nails on a chalkboard and with a megaphone no less. The voice mail activated, revealing the caller to be one of his friends from work, trying to check on him. It had been over a week since he initially called in and he had kept them up to date until a couple days ago. Since then, the calls went unanswered. He knew a couple of those calls were his concerned coworkers and several more were from what sounded like a very pissed off CEO. That got a weak grin out of him. Who knew moneybags cared, even if he was calling him everything but a dirty white boy. Despite his pain, he chuckled anyway, amused with Kaiba's raging on his voice mail.

Listening as things went blissfully quiet again, he took shallow breathes in some futile effort to further hinder any movement and somehow dull the pain. At some point it just had to stop, he told himself that repeatedly. At some point, this so called super virus was going to finish whatever unholy work it was doing to him and either kill him or leave him be. He silently berated himself for not going to the hospital like he figured he should have. But now that he saw what it was doing and that he was indeed mutating into something, he was almost glad for it. Again, he'd seen plenty of movies to know how people reacted to weird shit like this. He had no plans to become an experiment on someone's lab table or an exhibit at some zoo. He had a feeling that soon enough, one of the two parties would convey their worry to the authorities and send the police to check on him. Actually, Kaiba wouldn't, if he was set on something, he did it himself. So soon enough either the cops or Kaiba would show up and strangely enough he was hoping it would be Kaiba. The brunette had seen things just like he had and usually wasn't fazed by any of it. Granted, Kaiba would be fascinated with the change in him, but he didn't see him turning him over to a mainstream lab at least. The brunette would probably drag him home and keep him there, either to live or somehow develop some way to reverse it. Then again, changing back was not appealing considering how much changing to it currently felt, so he wasn't all that certain on whether he even wanted to try it if it was possible.

Closing his eyes, he had fallen into a fitful sleep for a couple hours till a banging on the door jarred him awake. _'Holy crap…!' _Fear caused him to suck in a breath as he turned his head just slightly. Another banging and someone was calling his name. Shit, Honda. His heart beat quickly with panic as he tried to figure out what to do. _'Should I answer? Will he come in if I do? Will he if I don't? I don't…I don't know what to fucking do…'_ When his name was called again, he gave up debating and barked back, "Yeah! What?"

"Dude, so you _are _alive. Why haven't you been answering the phone, huh?" He heard the door knob rattle and he thanked his lucky stars it was locked. Sure, Honda was his best friend, but it was circumstances like this that made one doubt these things. Of course, he believed in the power of friendship and all that jazz, but this was not exactly normal and even he found it freaky. He prayed the other wouldn't decide to haul off and bust down the door.

"Don't feel good, don't wanna talk. See ya! Hittin' the hay!" He cried, voice cracking once or twice as yelling seemed to hurt too. His speech slurred slightly. "I'll call when I'm better! Just don't worry!"

"Ya sure…?" There was some doubt in his friend's voice.

"Totally. _BYE!_" His head dropped in defeat, pressing his face into the tile with a wince. It still didn't seem enough for Honda but eventually he could hear footsteps leave as his friend told him he'd be back tomorrow. _'Fan-tucking-fastic…'_

* * *

><p>It was finally over and Jonouchi felt like he had been dragged to Hell and back.<p>

The agonizing pain of tearing skin and flesh, breaking and stretching bones was finally over. It was replaced by an overwhelming soreness and tenderness, but that was infinitely more welcome. A horrible stink hung in the air, especially around him. As he peeled himself off of the floor for the first time in three days, he finally had a chance to look himself over and what he saw was…

Downright bizarre.

He could safely say he was not human any more. Where human skin traveled a ways, it gradually meshed into black scales from his elbow and mid-thigh down as well as all over his back in places. His head felt heavier than normal and as he reached up, he could feel two sets of horns sticking out of his head on the sides and his ears felt like they had grown out as well. Running his tongue over his teeth, he could feel three or four sets of fangs that had replaced the teeth he lost during the whole process. As he had seen earlier, his legs bent back and looked very similar to the bulky hindquarters of a dragon. The heavy weight dragging on the floor behind him that felt like an extension of his spine turned out to be a long, black spiked tail. His clothes were in shambles, hanging off his bulked up, altered form and he felt like he was wearing a suit of dried blood and fluids.

"Hurk…!" He winced, banging about in the door frame when he turned in place. His wings were way too big to fit simply walking in like normal. That made him freeze. Wings? _'Shut the fuck up…' _Stepping backward, clumsily at first but eventually he managed to work his legs better after a few steps around and assessed the additional appendages. They were broad and separated into three sections, blacker than darkness. Lines of molten red ran down the length of each fold while what looked like a massive gem was on the outer fold near the top. For all he knew it was a massive clot of blood, but it was too smooth and had too much of a crystalline shine. Actually, he recognized those wings. He recognized them because they belonged to one of his new monsters he wanted to test against Kaiba. _'Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon…?'_

Now this super virus was less confusing and more alarming. Duel Monsters. _'But why…? And why now? What's causing it?' _Jonouchi was no scientist by any means…But he knew someone who came pretty close to it. He reasoned what it _could _be, but he didn't feel too confident in that. Gingerly touching his chin with one of his clawed fingers, he pondered that conundrum. Suddenly, he frowned, glancing down at the hand that had been bitten. He yanked the over-stretched bandages off, seeing that any damage that had been there was gone. But he remembered back, recalling the odd gallop sound he had heard. Looking at his legs, he was curious so he edged back into the hall and leaned down with a loud thump, putting his hands on the floor while adjusting his back legs. As a human, such a position was entirely too awkward to be viable, but it felt quite natural like this. _'So what bit me was one of these things, huh? Shit…' _Pulling himself up, he made a mental note to find the fucker and deck him later.

Since he had figured that out, he took a moment to look himself over again. "Fuck..." He spat irritably. He was painted with a good inch or two of blood and was still quite sore, the last thing he needed was an earful from his rival for ignoring his calls. Shaking his head, he started to stride over to where his phone sat. It was strange to walk, having to pick his feet up in a much different manner than he was accustomed to, otherwise the risen portion fell back and felt uncomfortable. He picked up the receiver to dial in a number, walking in circles as he did so to practice. It was strange how such normal tasks were now so bizarre as he worked the claws so that he wasn't mashing all of the buttons while concentrating on the walking technique. He muttered under his breath, hoping to not be out of luck and get a hold of someone, anyone and was relieved when he heard the other end pick up.

Until someone started laying into him like there was no tomorrow.

As Kaiba came him the third degree, he mumbled in response. "Yeah. Uh huh…I'm a dick…I get it. Yeah, okay. Kaiba. Kaiba? Hey, hey…Fuck you. Come over and say that to my face, ya panty wearing princess." And then he hung up. Jonouchi could almost imagine the _'What the fuck?' _look on his face, almost as well as he imagined the bastard tearing the fuck out of his office to head for his apartment. There was no doubt Kaiba probably knew where he lived, the bastard had a way of getting what he wanted after all, minus beating Yugi, of course.

The day was still pretty young, it was…noon? He glanced at the clock, seeing that he was close. Kaiba might call coming down to beat his ass a lunch break. Whatever, he wanted to clean himself up before the brunette arrived though it might be worth additional shock value to meet him covered in blood. Scratch that, it was too uncomfortable and he had enough problems as it was.

Lazily, he more or less tore off the remaining bits of clothing that were still on him somehow as he returned for the bathroom. "Shit…" He scowled, squeezing through the door before the demolition of the restroom began. At some point he was knocking the shower rail and curtain down while the water was turned on for the shower. His tail knocked several things off of the sink counter and put a few cracks in the toilet as he shifted about. Now the tub seemed far too small and the spray of the shower just didn't feel like enough as he made himself kind of fit in the restrictive area. More than once he accidentally scratched himself with his own claws when he absently tried to rub his hands down his sides like he normally would. Bloodied water splashed everywhere it wasn't supposed to. Needless to say, there was a great deal of trial and error to deal with as he bathed and he wasn't looking forward to cleaning up afterward.

* * *

><p>Cancelling a meeting would be so worth beating the tar out of the mutt for being so insolent. <em>'He has the nerve to ignore me for days and then talks back to me like that when he finally decides to call? I will <em>_**massacre **__him!' _Foot tapping rapidly in impatience as he stewed in the back of the limo, Kaiba stared ahead intently. Normally at this point he wouldn't bother, but again the void was empty and he had more or less been challenged so he had to come to the mutt's home and show him a thing or two. Besides, he was curious as to why the mongrel had been missing in action for three days, it hardly seemed like he was the sort to take vacations.

The door next to him opened once the car came to a stop at the complex and Kaiba turned his head, brow arched as his driver declared they had arrived. "Hmph. Good. Standby, this ass kicking shouldn't take very long." Sliding out in his purple coat and black ensemble, the CEO brought his metal briefcase with him. It would be the perfect blunt weapon to deliver some well earned justice.

Looking the complex over, he grimaced. It was a little low brow, but he had seen worse areas. It would be much better if the city made it a point to tame the jungle nearby. Or the landlord if it was an extension of the property. Climbing some stairs, taking note of chipped paint and rust as he went, Kaiba sighed at the sub par maintenance of the apartments on the outside as he made his way to the mutt's door. Some time back, he had gleaned from Yugi where the blond lived, though he had to reassure the squirt he wouldn't be paying him any visits. It was funny that the other duelist thought he would go there just to pick a fight, did he really come off as that immature with Jonouchi? It had been something to reflect on…But in any case, the CEO preferred to know where his acquaintances could be found, especially in possible scenarios like Mokuba having to find them in case something happened. He knew his little brother trusted them despite the brunette's obvious disdain and he had to admit that he himself found them more trustworthy than most.

His brows furrowed, seeing the curtains of a window he started to pass shift back as a little old woman looked at him and cracked open said window to address him. "I wouldn't go to that apartment. There's some unsavory smell which I think is coming from next door and I keep hearing something unusual thump around…I'm inclined to call the police…" Kaiba frowned, regarding her stoically. Inclined but haven't done it yet? It sounded like she was speaking to him for reassurance, or some sort of guidance.

"Hmph. Jonouchi probably burned something and he's probably chasing his tail for entertainment. I wouldn't bother with the cops." With that said, he continued to the door of the blond's apartment. Kaiba leaned his ear close to listen, hearing something heavy slide on the floor and unusually heavy footfalls. They weren't coming close to the door, it sounded more like circling. For some reason he felt unsettled as he reached for the doorknob. The minute he grasped it, causing the faint rattle, the footfalls stopped and went in a different direction, almost like it was fleeing. Grimacing, Kaiba opened the door and was hit in the face with a foul odor. He dropped his briefcase and put the back of his hand under his nose, "Ugh…It smells like something died in here…"

Maybe it had? What the hell was going on? He hoped that little old crone hadn't heard him say that, she would be even more inclined to call the authorities then. _'And maybe she should, especially if-' _No, there was no way Jonouchi was dead. It hadn't been an hour since they spoke and for something like a body to smell like that, it needed a few days. Now that didn't dismiss the notion that the blond might have killed someone. But then why taunt him into coming if he had a body in the apartment? _'Well, there is always the slim possibility he would try to kill me but that isn't quite like the mutt…' _No matter how many questions he came up with and how many variables came to mind, there was no solid conclusion to be made until he found the blond and learned what was going on.

"Oh, it's you, Kaiba." The hoarse voice drifted to him from another room somewhere.

Kicking his briefcase in, the brunette stepped into the apartment and swung the door shut. "Inu! What the hell is that stink? If you killed some prostitute-"

"The hell I did…That's all me. Well, I washed off, but the shit's all over the carpet still. Bathroom's kinda flooded too…" Kaiba blinked as he went to the corner leading to the hallway, following the other's voice. His blue eyes widened, looking at the massive blood stain on the floor. That came from Jonouchi? What the hell happened? He made a face as he tried to avoid the majority off it, casting a glance into the bathroom to see the tinted water and there were smears on the walls. The instant he was at the door to one of the bedrooms, someone decided it was time to impatiently yank him in. Kaiba hissed, feeling something sharp dig into his arm as he stumbled in, feeling a stinging sensation where he assumed whatever it was that grabbed him had scratched him. "Damn, Kaiba, I ain't got all day!"

Kaiba turned to the blond to start demanding answer before he froze, gawking in open shock. For Jonouchi, it was amusing as hell…but also worrying. He knew for a fact they had both seen some shit in the past years, somehow this didn't strike him as being too far off the scale. At first anyway. But seeing Kaiba's face as his mouth seemed to struggle with articulating some manner of response while his wide eyes looked him up and down, he wasn't so comfortable now. He had to admit though, he liked to see the CEO's eyes wide like that, it was almost kind of cute. The brunette seemed to snap out of the stunned trance with a shake of his head as his expression became more serious and confused. "Tell me that is some sort of masterwork cosplay costume…"

"Pfft!…I sucked at art classes. This is why I wanted you to come down here. Yanno the day you gave me that invite while I was walkin' home? Well, when I was comin' around the buildin', someone was messin' around in the bushes so I went to look. The fucker bit me and took off. I went and had it looked at, but they said it was fine and there wasn't any infection. I got sick though and three days ago everythin' started hurtin' like hell. I kinda just vegetated in the hall till it was all over." As he explained, Jonouchi moved away torward his bed. Sitting with a towel draped over his lap and his legs angled to be comfortable, which was hard given how they bent, he carefully combed his claws through his still damp hair.

"You're telling me a bite did this…?" That was the first thing out of Kaiba's mouth and Jonouchi huffed.

"I don't know…Honestly, that's like, the only thing I can think that caused it. After he bit me, I heard something run off on all four. I can move around on all four, so he must have been like this too."

It made sense, but at the same time it didn't. Like Jonouchi, the CEO recognized his parts and also made the association with a Duel Monster. He considered all of their exposure to the shadows, the spirits, the monsters, the magic. Even lately strange things had happened, connected to Duel Monsters. Things had happened at his Academy across the sea and then there was that business with Paradox which Yugi had taken care of though he had been vague on all of the details. _'But all of those things, while granted might have some given off some manner of radiation…but a bite?' _It reminded him of the stories of werewolves. However, this didn't seem quite the case, as it looked more like a permanent mutation. He fingered his bottom lip, lost in thought as he stared down at the blond. _'The werewolf bite is like a curse, I think it was. So this could be a curse too. Though if I were to look at it in a more scientific light rather than supernatural, I would be more inclined to point at a mutagen. Perhaps a combination of supernatural radiation and long-term hereditary exposure that culminated into some manner of volatile full body mutation?'_

"What the hell are you doin', man?"

Kaiba blinked, drawn out of his thoughts. "…What?"

"You pokin' at your lip like that…"

Jonouchi's annoyance caused him to smirk, even as he consciously stopped the action and lowered his hand. "A tic now and then, when I'm thinking, ryu-inu."

"You fuckin' serious? Ryu-inu? I should frickin' maul you for that…" Kaiba glanced at Jonouchi's claws. They were definitely fierce and he speculated they would make devastatingly quick work of a human. But the threat was empty and he knew that very well. The CEO continued to smirk as the altered mutt stood up to vent more threateningly since the other didn't seem inclined to buy it, then his expression turned into one of comical shock. Jonouchi blinked and followed his line of sight down before grimacing and putting his claws over that area, glaring with a deep blush at Kaiba. "Shut the hell up cause I know you're plannin' to say shit…It's only in…somethin'…whatever the fuck it is. Claws aren't exactly great for examinin' that shit, yanno?"

"Ahem…" Most likely to Jonouchi's surprise, Kaiba blushed furiously too. That was a bit of a disarming sight, as it made the blond look like a damned Ken doll. But it was an enlightening detail, as was the one where it seemed there was no longer a navel. "That…just means it's now a copulatory organ, which is how most reptiles are. That might also mean you have a cloaca which the intestinal, urinary and reproductive tracts function in-"

"Kaiba…Just no. No nerd talk." The blond held up a claw, feeling embarrassed that Kaiba was analyzing that particular problem. At least it was to him. Basically, he was being told he went from being a mammal to a reptile? Whatever, that wasn't why he wanted Kaiba here. "Think you can find any way to reverse it?"

"Reverse…it?" It took some effort to refrain from blurting out _'Why would you want to?' _in a demanding tone. Surely Jonouchi had to see that this was some manner of evolution, the next step on the food chain. Just from looking at him, Seto was certain that this could mean the fall of mankind from the role of ultimate apex predator. He would be lying if he said he wasn't tempted to make the blond bite him also, actually longing to change just like that. Wetting his lips, the brunette wrung his hands together, looking him over again. "Why…Why exactly would you want to change back?"

"Are you serious? For fuckin' real? Kaiba, lookit me, I'm a freak! I can't go out anywhere lookin' like this!" Jonouchi felt his stomach knot up instantly. Fuck, calling Kaiba over might not have been such a good idea. In fact, he mentally kicked himself. This sort of thing would be right up the other man's alley. Granted, he himself found it pretty cool, but it was very likely he could wind up on someone's lab table for dissection if the wrong people saw him. "I need this fixed, damn it! People are gonna be grabbin' swords and pitchforks to chase my ass down when they see me!"

"Well…! You don't know that!" Actually, he couldn't help but agree. The individual was smart but people were dumb and panicky. Plus throughout the ages, dragons had been fearsome figures of legend for a good reason and dragon slaying was a particular human pastime. But it seemed like such a waste…

"Kaiba…"

"Look, I don't dabble in biology or anything like that, however…I can…have the matter looked into." Jonouchi couldn't be the lone lucky bastard this had happened to, surely there were other cases. It wasn't really his problem if the blond had no appreciation for what he'd gotten. "But you'll have to come with me. It's probably for the better if you stay with Mokuba and myself until we figure something out anyway. At least that way you won't be so closed up in this small apartment and you won't have to worry about supplying yourself or pests."

Casting a glance outside the bedroom window, the transformed blond considered it. The idea didn't sound too bad actually. At some point, Honda would not take too kindly to being dismissed and he was still uncertain how he would react. Plus he liked food and he knew he couldn't go waltzing to the store anytime soon for some. "Well…Sure, that would be for the best. Lemme-" Jonouchi froze, frowning as he turned his head, his now long and pointed ears twitching. There had been the screeching of tires outside, plus he could hear shouting, shortly after that it sounded like some people were rushing the stairs. The front door let out a loud bang as it was kicked in and Kaiba's head whipped around at the commotion. The blond grimaced. Whoever it was, they were fast and that didn't bode well for him. "The hell…" His red streaked brown eyes widened when a pair of heavily armored goons with guns appeared in the doorway and aimed at him. At first he wanted to think they were cops, but that wasn't-

"Drop to the floor! Now!" One of them ordered, he and his partner seeming to ignore the presence of the CEO to the side. The others were probably hanging back to storm the room once he complied.

Kaiba stood stock still, unable to make anything of this odd turn of events. So the old hag had called the cops after all, or at least someone related. His initial reaction to opening the door and Jonouchi's inability to do anything quietly had probably convinced her to do it. He looked from them towards the blond, wondering if they were going to open fire on him if he didn't listen. He almost wanted to mouth to him to just do what they said, but his eyes widened, seeing that defiance in Jonouchi's eyes.

Yeah, he wasn't going to be doing what they asked…"I'll drop all right…" Or was he? Before Kaiba or the two geared goons could respond, Jonouchi spun on one foot to charge with impressive speed and plowed his way through the window as they started to fire on him. None of the bullets did much damage, one or two hitting the wings he wrapped around himself protectively.

"Jo!" The brunette barked, now moving towards the window before he felt someone grab his arm. Scowling, he turned to the armored grunt who grabbed him while the other made it to the window.

Down below, Jonouchi had somehow managed to land from the third floor without severely hurting himself. His claws had rammed down on the pavement and he rolled onto the ground hard. He could hear shouting around him, guns clicking and a few shots went off. There were more of them outside apparently. Moving with instinct on his side, he rolled onto all four and proceeded to run in an animalistic fashion to the dense wooded jungle. Everything moved past him in a blur and the gunfire and shouts were quickly drowned out in the furious rush by of leaves and grass. Several bullet wounds grew more painful as he ran. At some point, the blond felt himself slow down and eventually stop, much deeper into the wooded area than he ever recalled being.

Tongue hanging slack out of his mouth, he panted for air as he tried to think back to what just happened. _'Shit…I left Kaiba there…' _The urge to run back bubbled up for a moment. But Kaiba had to be fine, it wasn't like he had bitten the man. He was most likely in for some serious interrogating before he had to shell out some dough to bail himself out. Still, he felt concerned. Who the hell were those men? They definitely weren't the run of the mill pigs.

"Shit…" He slowly sagged to the ground, his limbs feeling heavier than lead now. Again, he was in pain and exhausted. His arms and legs ached from the abuse, especially his arms which to his shock and awe were not broken. His eyelids were insistent on coming down as well. He needed some rest, then he would try to figure out what to do. Tiredly, he dragged himself into a thick series of bushes and more or less buried himself in foliage. Hopefully, he would hear them coming if they pressed on with some sort of pursuit. With a shaky sigh, he laid down and closed his eyes, getting in a quick nap before he had to figure out what to do next. 

End of Chapter 2


	4. Chapter 3 : Sticking Together

Disclaimer : I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh, GX or 5Ds in any way, shape or form.

Warnings : AU, violence, gore, death, racism, torture, yaoi, mpreg. Rated M for mature. 

Year of The Dragon

Arc 1 : Legend of Red-Eyes

Chapter 3 : Sticking Together 

Even though the mutt was ever present on his mind, he somehow managed to maintain his focus as they grilled him for information. Apparently, when the old woman had called authorities, they had contacted some other agency which was apparently responsible for these…unusual cases. Cases, he came to find out, were referred to as dragonkin and Dragon-Blight. If there was some established center to go to concerning this matter, then Jonouchi was not an isolated incident though they were probably infrequent enough to be so far off the radar that it had evaded his notice.

Despite threats to sue them back to the stone age, they had badgered him into an examination before they declared that despite a scratch, he was Blight free. Now they were asking him anything and everything about Jonouchi. Where would he run, where would he hide, how dangerous was he, was he feral, what was his level of intelligence, who else would he go to. It was likely they would now be watching him like hawks, waiting for the blond to possibly reach out to him again.

As she and her employees called her, Dragonstalker Sunako, a tall and willowy Japanese woman with waves of curled black hair as dark as her lips and eyes joined him in a white walled room devoid of decoration besides a stainless steel table and matching chairs for further discussions once the initial drilling was done by her cohorts. When he heard the self-appointed title, he wanted to scoff and mock her, but his presence there with a dragonkin had him looking suspect and he couldn't afford to be immediately off-putting, his lack of answers would probably be damning enough. Placing a glass of water before him, she slid into the sleek steel chair on the opposing side of the table. He took notice that she looked less than pleased with him and his reported tightlipped answers.

"You've wasted precious hours of my time here…Are we quite done yet?" The brunette growled at the dark haired woman with the pale chiseled features, picking up the glass of water they had finally decided to give him after what felt like forever. She was rather dangerous looking herself, he noted. Her black leather ensemble sported an impressive cache of weapons, from knifes to handguns. It made him wonder as he drank some of the water, how many of those items on her person had she used on others since her company had started its _work_.

Sunako glared at him maliciously, pegging him as a sympathizer with the animals she had tasked herself with rounding up. Seto Kaiba. She had hoped he was infected, it would have given her some pleasure to see him dragged through the rigors of their testing and experimenting. "Now, Kaiba-sama, I know you have some manner of dragon fetish…But these animals aren't something to idolize. If they get out of hand, humanity will eventually die out. And they will go with us…They lack females, they can't make them, they'll never reproduce because they aren't viable with human women. The only way to make more is by going around biting people. We can't have that. We can't have any running free, and that includes your boy toy."

"Tch, that idiot isn't my boy toy." Even though the comment should have made him angrier, for some reason it didn't but he couldn't dwell on it for now. Why couldn't women become dragonkin let alone breed with them? He recalled Jonouchi's missing navel. Perhaps that was why, technically it was two different species, but that hardly explained why women did not change. To his surprise, she wasn't withholding as much as he expected. Then again, he was notorious in his skill with computers. Perhaps she figured what he couldn't scavenge off the internet, he would from their databases via hacking. Even with what she was willing to provide, he was mentally making plans to hack their company's systems, if not to glean more information…then to possibly destroy their databanks out of sheer spite and disgust. "You're being rather straight forward with your information…"

"I do my research. You have a few hacking loops in your belt of infinite infamy and I will inform you now that K-Tech's online security is quite resilient. And even if you were to set about somehow wreaking havoc, it will in no way hinder us."

K-Tech, or Knightly Technologies, was a small but growing company that worked with reigning in the strange new epidemic, or so they called it. Kaiba was pleased that he had been right in thinking Jonouchi was not a lone case, but the fact that there was a company reaping in the benefits by basically committing genocide disgusted him beyond belief. As if to further impress something on him, perhaps intimidate him even, they had walked him through the facilities. What he had seen had been horrific…Dragonkin were stuffed in cages with no more than a foot or two worth of space to squirm around. Many of them were bloodied and bruised up, some missing their newly grown limbs among other things, like an eye, claws or teeth. What had hurt the most to look at was one dragonkin in the laboratories. The poor bastard was obviously dead if the glazed over, unblinking stare was anything to go by…The rib cage was pried wide open was another obvious factor as one of the technicians examined the remains. He was thankful it wasn't someone he recognized as they moved on. It was apparent K-Tech was harvesting various materials from them to study, they were most likely examining everything about this Dragon-Blight phenomenon down to the cellular level in order to manufacture some manner of anti-virus. The way they went about it though…it turned his stomach. He wondered whether this was a government sanctioned operation or if it was some covert radical group who were taking the mantle of _humanity's saviors _undo themselves with the misguided belief that what they were doing was right. The only thing he could give them credit for doing right was how well they hid their activities.

"When you say they can't make females, what exactly do you mean?"

"Well, Mr. Kaiba, if one were to come up and bite _me_, in the end I would either wind up crippled in some way or dead. It has an adverse effect on women." She refrained from pointing out that they were studying said effect to determine if there was a way to counter or protect from the Blight. "Now…Back to the matter of your wayward friend…"

"I've told you all I know. So deal with it." Kaiba scowled, glowering at her. "And even if I knew more, I wouldn't tell a bunch of sadists like you anyway."

"We are ensuring the continuity of our species, Kaiba-sama. I work for the people…including you, even if you're too much of a dracophile to appreciate all we do. The means will justify the end when we succeed in purging the Blight off the face of the planet."

"And why this way?" The brunette scowled, his tone demanding and angry. He lowered the glass slightly, leaning forward. While Kaiba was not exactly a gentlemen by any means, he typically adhered to what seemed like a cardinal rule that hitting women was not a good thing to do. But he could turn beating Sunako black and blue into a hobby he'd enjoy as much as Duel Monsters. "You can't tell me there wasn't some humane alternative to explore. You can't sit there and lie through your teeth and expect me to believe that kidnapping and murdering these people is ultimately for the greater good…There's nothing good about what you do here."

There was a subtle twitch in her brow and he had a feeling she was fighting the urge to fling the table aside and show him how she dealt with dragonkin herself with every fiber of her being. Standing as a sign that she was done with him, her dark grey eyes shifted towards the glass of water which was now half empty and she gave him a calm yet dark smirk. "You're free to go now…"

Seto sat the drink down, eying her warily. His eyes flicked towards the glass then back to her before he stood up with his briefcase in hand. Something about that look in her eye was raising red flags for him but he couldn't place why. Whatever it was, the damage was probably already done. "Hmph. You'll be hearing from my lawyers soon enough."

"I look forward to it." The Dragonstalker chuckled lightly, watching the irritable CEO leave the room with two of her _knights _escorting him away. Once he was gone, her smirk faded as unmitigated hatred filled her eyes. If there wasn't something she hated more than a lizard, it was a damned sympathizer and lover of lizards. Sitting on the edge of the bolted down table, she lifted her wrist to adjust something on her watch. _'In two week, Kaiba-sama, I'll be paying you a visit…'_

* * *

><p>Jonouchi's nap had been relatively short lived, woken up by the furious rustling of flora and the occasional flash of light that swung by. Holding himself down low, his crimson streaked brown eyes darted back and forth. The sun was in the midst of heading down, bathing the remaining daylight orange. It left just enough light in the thick forest for him to see several of the heavily armed goons from earlier stalking around, flashlights in one hand and handguns in the other. <em>'Mallorean Arms Gunblades? Ouch…' <em>He squinted at the coat of arms patches on their shoulders. Their attire was similar to swat cops, though the shoulders looked much more like plate and their helmets reminded him of knightly helms._ 'Huh. Never seen that before…' _Definitely not cops, they had to be something worse. When one seemed to turn in his direction, he bowed his head down, pretending to be part of the foliage and lifted his head back up when it felt safe. Once night fell, it would be nearly impossible for them to find him but he wasn't sure he could wait that long.

'_Shit…' _There was always the option to go down fighting. That was not an appealing idea. Never mind whether he had to kill them or not, he just didn't want to die. Before he could further ponder that option, a heavy, spastic rustle of leaves broke him out of his frightened worrying. The grunts froze, all aiming in the direction of the noise before they started to rush in that direction, barking commands back and forth. _'Fuckin' sweet…!'_

Once they had moved far away enough, Jonouchi took advantage of the distraction and bolted from his hiding spot to charge off in a different direction. They must have heard him, as there were shouts and gunfire. Thankfully, running on all four put him at a hell of an advantage, letting him put some considerable distance between himself and them despite some of his old injuries flaring up painfully. Deciding this time that he did not have the luxury of rest, he maneuvered through the woods, heading for a place he could hide that wasn't as out in the open. Getting inside would be hard…But hopefully Gramps had closed shop early.

Scrambling through the woods that began to thin out the further he went, he eventually came to the portions that had become the park. Yugi's was just across the way, but he knew he couldn't go springing over until it was dark enough. Much to his chagrin, he was shaking from fear and adrenaline, hunching down in the bushes. He turned his head from left to right, checking for any activity. So far, it seemed fairly dead in the area with a few pedestrians here and there. Once it was dark enough that the street lights would soon kick on and no one was looking, Jonouchi vaulted across the pavement to clamor up against the back door of the shop house. With trembling hands, he tried to open the door, finding it locked. _'I ain't got time for this!' _Snarling, he turned the knob hard enough that the locking mechanism gave way. Jonouchi practically threw himself in and kicked the door shut behind him, panting and shivering on the floor. It was almost tempting to kiss the linoleum under his face, he was so glad to be there.

"Is…someone there?" Came a confused but familiar voice. Yugi, who was back for a short visit, stepped into the kitchen doorway from the hallway, drawn by the commotion. He had been busy doing some studying while manning the store counter when he heard the door open and slam shut in the back. His voice had deepened to sound much more like Atem's and he had even gained a few inches as well as muscle. Blinking with wide, slightly more narrowed purple eyes, he looked around, having expected it to be his mother but saw no one there. He jumped back as his old friend's head quickly poked up from behind the counter. "Oh…! Geez, Jonouchi! Give me a heart attack why…do you have horns? And pointy ears?"

Tiredly, Jonouchi tilted his head so his cheek rested on the counter. "Look, it's a long story, Yugi…Could you do me, ah, a few favors?"

"Um…" Tentatively, the King of Games circled the counter for a better look and his jaw went slack. That was either a really awesome costume or something went horribly wrong. His eyes were almost as wide as plates as he looked over the changes. Clamping his mouth shut, Yugi managed to compose himself. It seemed Jonouchi needed help so he had no time to sit there gawking. Even so, he moved closer but very slowly. "Okay…What?"

"First, I got shot a couple times and it hurts like a bitch-"

"_SHOT? _What-!"

"So I need some medical assistance. Second, I kinda need to, uh, hide here for a while. And lastly, I need ya to call Kaiba-"

"What does Kaiba have to do with this?"

"-and make sure he's okay."

Why did he need to make sure Kaiba was okay? Now he was doubly concerned. But the first thing on his list was to take care of Jonouchi. Yugi combed his fingers through his wild hair. "Okay, okay, okay…Just, geez, I…Look, let's deal with your injuries first." Words could not describe how confused and flustered he was feeling as he warily approached his transformed friend, who started to use the counter to lift himself off the floor. He ushered the blond upstairs to attempt using the bathroom, but to his shock it was hard enough for Jonouchi to get up the narrow staircase let along properly fit into the bathroom with him as well. Yugi's home wasn't exactly spacious for the likes of the blond. So instead he had the dragonkin sit in his room while he brought a large bowl of water, towels, disinfectant and bandages as well as a pair of tweezers. Thankfully, Yugi only had to pry out a few bullets, a couple were much too deep. Occasionally, he found himself flinching back from the inhuman yowls Jonouchi gave when he had to pull one out. While he worked, the whole story was divulged, leaving him worried about Kaiba as well now.

"There…Just relax here, Jo. I'll go call Kaiba, then I'll bring something for you to eat…" Leaving his friend to curl up where he was once the last bandage was wrapped, Yugi tore down the stairs for the kitchen. He hurriedly snatched up the phone there and dialed Kaiba's cell number. His right foot bounced on the heel rapidly as he placed his free hand on his hip, fingers drumming while he waited for a pick-up which came after a few rings. Yugi smiled with some relief. "Kaiba?"

The CEO's voice answered him, the same gravelly sound he remembered, it was almost nice to hear him again even if the likelihood of him saying something snide was high. "Did your dog come home?"

Yugi tilted his head, blinking with a confused frown. What dog was he talking about? He didn't have a dog he was aware of. Maybe he had been expecting another call and didn't realize it was him seeing as his own voice had deepened a little. "Wha…Kaiba, it's Yugi."

"I am aware of that, caller ID is a wonderful thing, you know. Now…did that golden retriever of yours that went missing show up or not?"

"…"

"_Honestly_…"

"Oh, oooooh…" He had wondered what was with the question and the CEO's tone which was now exasperated, but he still didn't understand why Kaiba wasn't directly asking him about Jonouchi. That didn't stop him from feeling silly that he hadn't caught on immediately. Still, he played along with the conversation, rubbing the back of his neck uncertainly as he answered. "Yeah, _Bingo _made it home. Never thought I'd see him again and all that. Y-"

"Good, that means you don't have to pester me anymore. Keep your dog on a tighter leash next time." Yugi blinked as Kaiba hung up on him. That was weird. With a sigh, he pressed the back of the hand holding the phone against his brow as his shoulders slumped. The entire situation was weird and he wasn't sure how he was supposed to sit there and explain it to his grandpa or his mother. Putting the phone back in place, he made himself busy with fixing Jonouchi a plate of food to take upstairs, deliberating on what they would wind up doing next. If what the blond said was accurate, and Kaiba's evasive questions concerning said blond, were anything to go by then the people that had been hunting for him would be keeping their eyes peeled. _'I guess normalcy is too much to ask for, huh?' _This was one of those times he wished the Pharaoh was still with him. This was a _'Let him deal with it' _situation if there ever was one.

* * *

><p>"Seto, you don't look so well…"<p>

If it was anyone other than his little brother, then he would be tempted to snap at him for stating the obvious. Regardless, the brunette leaned over to look at himself in the reflective metal surface of a nearby pillar, adjusting his azure blue tie as he did so. Most of the color had drained from his skin, leaving him very pale save the reddened coloring around his eyes. His head was plagued with a dull ache as was the whole of his body. _'It isn't…Or could it be?' _Perhaps that was the witch's little ploy. She had given him water spiked with Blight. That had to be it. A newfound lightheadedness overcame him as anxiety caused his stomach to twist in knots. As if he didn't already have enough to worry about, now there was this. _'They kept droning on and on about bites being the only thing that transmitted it…'_

Apparently that was not the case and he had a suspicion he was the test subject.

'_Tch! How hypocritical! Oh by all means, purge the Blight but turn around and infect someone on purpose?' _Obviously he had rubbed her the wrong way enough to make that the case. Even though he was not wholly certain it was Blight, he knew he would have to proceed as if it were, which meant he would be hearing from K-Tech soon enough. If he had to give his foe more credit than he cared for, then he was inclined to say they must have figured he would not be a feral, run amok biter._ 'No, they know I'll take precautions once it dawns on me that I'm infected. Clever worms.'_

Unfortunately, he wouldn't be able to take down K-Tech as soon as he wanted or now needed. As planned, he had hacked into their systems, it proved a mild challenge at best, and was now as knowledgeable about dragonkin as they were which wasn't by much but it was vast compared to before. As much as he wanted to thrash their systems and delete their files, deleting the files would accomplish little if they had back-ups as he suspected. But that didn't stop him from leaving them a little present of a nasty little virus. Or two. Or three. The more the merrier in his opinion, provided it wasn't his system.

Legally, he had lawyers working diligently to dismantle the small company but apparently the legal battlefield was a difficult one to conquer. Sunako was apparently a cagey opponent and she was diligent in covering every track possible. It made him question whether the operation was government sanctioned even more. A covert operation with minimal press or an operation that was keeping the inhumane activities it performed in the dark to avoid ruffling its supporter's feathers.

At least there was one blessing he could count and it was that Jonouchi had found a safe haven somewhere. It seemed that he had managed to make his way over to Yugi's, even though with how thorough K-Tech was, that would not prove safe for long either. He had wanted to speak with his old rival at length and maybe even reconnect after so long; however he didn't want to send K-Tech sniffing in their direction. They didn't need any assistance there. He didn't put the remote possibility of phone bugs past them, no matter how unlikely though they _had _confiscated his phone and had probably done something to it. That being the case, personal and business matters were going to be very limited until he disposed of it and picked up a new line and phone.

As interested as he was to see what sort of half-dragon he would turn into, the alarming prospect of K-Tech on his heels overshadowed it. Technically, he had seen them in action when they stormed Jonouchi's apartment. They weren't exactly stealthy. But coming after a wealthy CEO would be much more challenging than a run of the mill mongrel. Not to mention, Jonouchi had been unaware while he himself had foresight. He could plan accordingly or at least try, as he wasn't sure what their game play was in regards to someone knowledgeable with the money to put up a defense of any sort.

"Seto?" His silence seemed to be making his brother worry a little more. Looking over at him, the brunette took a moment to take in how much Mokuba had grown. He did that often, but something about doing it now felt more…wistful than anything. Like a weed, he had sprung up in height rather well. His long, black hair was still an unruly mess. Usually it was pulled back in a somewhat tasteful ponytail when he had to do work in the rebuilt Kaiba Corp. tower. Since they were at KaibaLand, Mokuba didn't see the need for it to be up. His taste in clothing had matured slightly, less sloppy striped sweater and more business casual with an emphasis on casual. "Are you okay? You look like you need some rest."

"…" Having not told him about Jonouchi and the related events recently, Seto pondered how he would set about doing so. Not to mention, he glanced around at the park goers and his own men, such a public place was not the right setting to go around declaring one might be Blighted, even if most of them wouldn't understand. It pained him to add any of his problems to his brother's plate, but with what was involved, he had no choice. Now that he might become a dragonkin, he couldn't properly run Kaiba Corp. in the light of day anymore. Of course, he would be just fine managing well behind the scenes and out of sight, but the burden of putting in face time would fall to Mokuba now. "…Walk with me, Mokuba. I have a lot of deep information to go over with you."

When that was said and he shot them a look, his men knew that was when they were meant to give the brothers ample speaking distance, though they never left their sights. He and his brothers walked through the park in silence, at a slower pace than the younger Kaiba was used to since his brother wasn't putting on his long, swift gait like he normally did. That only happened when his brother was tired, if even then. Entering a section that the park goers were restricted from and ensuring they were alone and unheard, Seto stopped leading Mokuba along to face him with his arms crossed. With his ill look, it wasn't as imposing a stance as it should have been, further cementing that something was wrong. Despite his brother's observations into his less regal state, Seto fixed him with a weary stare, azure eyes half-closed. "Mokuba, have you heard much about something called Dragon-Blight?"

"Um, no. I heard there's some weird virus going around and people go missing after they get it for some reason but that's about all I know about it." The younger Kaiba's brows knit together as he studied his brother. There wasn't a heap of coverage on the virus or how it spread, but there were warnings to avoid things that appeared incredibly unusual as well as to avoid wilder areas around the cities. That had not been much to work with. "Is that the name of it? You have it? What happened?"

"…I think so. At the very least, I am going to prepare as if I do."

"Prepare?"

"It's not fatal as far as I know, but it has extreme effects. That's not what I'm worried about though…The reason people who have it go missing is because some institution is taking the liberty of plucking them out of the public eye in order to cull the virus. If I'm sick with it, it's because one of their leaders purposely infected me through a means the virus isn't conventionally transmitted. If that is the case…"

"They'll come after you." And to get at Seto, people often went through Mokuba. When his brother nodded, the dark haired teen scowled. Apparently they couldn't catch a break, even with something that wasn't tied directly to the company itself or its past. "But why would they infect you on purpose? For some sort of example?"

"I think a vendetta." The brunette sighed. "When they dragged me off to their facility for questioning, I had gone to Jonouchi's to see why he had been avoiding my calls. It turned out he had the virus and had suffered its effects. K-Tech had been called and they stormed the apartment to get him, however he fled. They tried to grill me for information on him, but I was less than cooperative and I believe it pissed their leader off enough that she would resort to such a low blow. That and maybe my critique of her operations…"

Mokuba scoffed, smiling with a soft laugh at his brother's triumphant smirk despite the severity of the situation. Trust Seto to be his smug self even while being ill from such a low tactic as poisoning. Quickly, he got serious again. He didn't know what K-Tech was, what they did or why they felt the need to target his brother…but he made a mental note to find some way of getting even for what they did. Now, however, he was concerned for his brother's wellbeing. Revenge would come later. "What did the virus do to Jonouchi? It doesn't sound like something bad if he's all right. Or is he?" For the blond's sake, as well as his brother's, he hoped so.

"Healthier than ten horses, I wager. The virus mutates an individual into some sort of dragon-like humanoid, and painfully from the look of Jonouchi and his apartment floor. Interestingly enough, it's a Duel Monster dragon. Jonouchi's features bore a resemblance to the Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon."

"Wha…Serious?"

That would explain why his brother wasn't so alarmed with being sick then, if anything he was probably looking forward to it. His brother confirmed with another nod, leaving him to digest that information for a moment as the other Kaiba continued. "I have a general timeline as to when the most severe effects take place and roughly how long it takes to finish…But we'll have to take measures to guard against K-Tech, whether they opt to use force or stealth, to come after me. I have absolutely no intention of being taken to that hell hole alive…"

Mokuba's dark blue eyes flashed as he looked up at his brother from his thinking. He wasn't sure what the facility Seto had seen was like, but he didn't like the sound of any of it. If his brother would rather die than go there, it was anything but good. Now he was feeling tired, worn out by this information and by the terrible fear for his brother. It was so much to process and it opened the way to so much work ahead that he suspected they had limited time to do it in. He reached up, rubbing his eyelids with a sigh. _'Soooo much work…'_

Seto's brows knit together slightly, looking somewhat disturbed. He knew this was all a bit much to press on his brother's shoulders and he hated it. Going the ordeal alone would be much more ideal, but it seemed unlikely he could do that and there was too much risk trusting anyone besides his brother. Slowly, ignoring the dizzy feeling in his head, the brunette uncrossed his arms to lower them at his sides. "I'm sorry, Mokuba, this-"

"No. You didn't do anything wrong, Seto." No, the person who infected his brother…They were the one who had to be sorry. Dropping his hand, he reached out and grabbed his brother's wrist to pull him along. The older Kaiba blinked at him, looking slightly surprised but he didn't argue with the gesture. Maybe he was too tired or already in enough dull pain that it became a trivial matter. He planned on taking him home so they could start preparing for the worst of it all. Mokuba wanted to make sure he would be able to make the whole process as painless as possible as well as make sure they were ready for whatever K-Tech decided to throw at them to get Seto. "You've spent your whole life taking care of me, now it's time for me to take care of you…And trust me, Seto, they'll find out I'm not as easy to fuck with as I used to be." 

End of chapter 3


	5. Chapter 4 : Calls In The Night

Disclaimer : I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh, GX or 5Ds in any way, shape or form.

Warnings : AU, violence, gore, death, racism, torture, yaoi, mpreg. Rated M for mature.

Note : Just want to say thanks to those who have reviewed so far, I really appreciate it. Especially Hellion's comment on wanting to do fanart, and in all actuality I've started drawing some of the dragonkin as I've been implementing them so after a little bit I may make a YoD deviant account just for that and posting the story on deviant. Have to see later on.

Year of The Dragon

Arc 1 : Legend of Red-Eyes

Chapter 4 : Calls In The Night

"You know, Jonouchi, I kind of have to use that for my school stuff too, right?"

Red streaked brown eyes glanced up from the monitor of the laptop to stare at Yugi in silence for a good moment, and then returned to the glowing screen. "This kinda goes beyond your stupid school work, man…" He ignored the pout he was given for that until its compelling power forced him to give a tired sigh. "Sorry, it's just…This is life and death for me here. I didn't mean it…" Yes, he was technically being an asshole, but he had to find out anything and everything he could about what the hell he had been through. There was very little to go on, but he found himself back at some of the sites that he had dismissed weeks ago as gibberish. Most of what was there was a lot of speculation, but he did find some of it intriguing.

"Yeah…It's just hard for me to grasp that, I think…Even though its happened before but this seems so different. I mean, we aren't dealing with angry, vengeful spirits or something. No weird virtual worlds or soul stealing psycho. This is people. Desperate, hateful people without all the magic but still…" Yugi hated to think his friend's life was in such danger again and that keeping him safe seemed so…difficult now. There was no powerful pharaoh to fall back on or some mystical relic to provide any assistance. This was people with guns, technology and claws. It felt so…raw and down to earth to the King of Games compared to everything else, which just seemed easier. _'Then again…Those times, even though they were often scary as hell, were rather exciting. Fun even. This is anything but…Not to mention, Jonouchi's been completely changed, well, not completely-completely but it's still a significant alteration.'_

When his grandfather had stumbled across the blond, the old man had dived for his shotgun before it even dawned on him who it was. That incident had been enough to nearly give the King of Games a heart attack. After they had gotten Sugoroko settled down and explained what was happening, he still seemed nervous about the whole thing. Jonouchi had wound up relegated to the attic, forbidden from coming down at all. The two friends had been somewhat irate with the decision, but they didn't argue, reasoning that Grandpa was merely being cautious for a number of reasons. Their own safety as well as Jonouchi's for example. Yugi's mother had been just as displeased with something like a dragon in the attic, but she too understood that the blond could wind up in serious trouble if he were caught. "Did you find anything?"

"Well, there are a lot of missing persons cases related to the _'super virus'_ deal. I think that explains the armored goons…They must get called about these cases and they come out and take the people who wind up like me away. I dunno where they get taken too and I'm not sure I want to." Given how they had shot at him like he was some wild, feral animal, he was worried about what ended up happening to those missing people. The mental image he had of being on a laboratory slab and cut open was sounding much more likely, unaware that was pretty much the end of the road for the missing in reality. "All men too, the ones that went missing. Anything about girls concerning it is mostly in the obituaries. I guess it's fatal for them or something, maybe the change is too extreme, though girls are kinda resilient…Dunno, I ain't no scientist."

"That's not good…"

"Yeah…On the up side, the bite seems to be the chief cause. I just don't get how it happened. Did people just start changin' out of the blue or is there like…some, I dunno, like someone or somethin' that causes it in a different way?" Jonouchi didn't understand any of it. He had a feeling that was the golden question, among several. What had initiated the outbreak? When? From what he had seen, the first postings about it seemed less than half a year ago with the frequency increasing as the months went. He wondered how far spread it would get and, if it was dangerous for women, what would happen in the long run? What could he do in the meantime till it seemed out of control? What _could_ he do about it? Could he even do anything about it? _'Or more importantly, why the blue fuck am I wondering what I can do about it like I'm in charge here or something?'_

There were so many questions buzzing in his head and only one thing was really apparent to him : _He could not get caught._ That was crystal clear. He didn't know what would happen and he wasn't inclined to find out. But he knew he couldn't lurk in Yugi's attic forever. He desperately wanted to go outside. The attic was cluttered, dusty and cramped. He also wanted food, real food and not the garbage they ate. Granted, Yugi's mother was a great cook and they ate decent, home cooked meals but the instant he thought rare steak, he was salivating. A nice, big bloody hunk of meat…And some part of him wanted the thrill of killing his fare, which was certainly a different feeling than he was used to. Pushing the crate that the laptop sat on away, Jonouchi gave a resigned sigh. He wanted real clothes too. Sitting around in the attic in a pair of Grandpa's hibiscus print trunks was not appealing at all and it felt weird how the waistband went under his thick tail in the back. Hell, he would have gone with just being buck naked, but Yugi's complaints about the weirdness of his newly inverted nethers had been enough to make him keep the shorts on. "Any word from Kaiba?"

"Number's no longer in service…I called Mokuba though, but he didn't really give me long and didn't tell me much. Did you…bite Kaiba?" Although Jonouchi never said anything of the sort, he couldn't help but wonder.

"Really…What? No!" Jonouchi turned pink at the question. "I didn't really do anythin' to him…Maybe they're just bein' cautious?"

He wasn't sure how he felt about that. Did Kaiba think the armored pigs were keeping tabs on him? Maybe, Yugi seemed inclined to agree with him on that. It probably depended on how persistent they were in catching one person. But why was it that Mokuba was avoiding Yugi as well? He had an unsettled feeling that there was something going on that he wasn't aware of, and would not be able to find out. Yugi's question of his biting the CEO didn't help the matter. He hadn't, the most he had done was grab Kaiba's arm. _'Maybe I scratched him? He didn't say anythin' if I did…Maybe I'm puttin' too much into it.'_

After Yugi reclaimed his laptop and excused himself for a few hours of study before it was bedtime, the shorter of the pair went downstairs to avoid the most demanding of distractions now in the house so he could focus. Jonouchi was stuck occupying himself…with nothing. Actually, he sat down and did some studying of his own, holding his hand up in the low light of the attic light fixture. The thick, black claws made a jagged curve. The new scaly skin riddled with several spines that had replaced the fleshy pink human skin gleamed in the dim light. That new skin tapered down to his elbows before most of it faded into the normal flesh and there was a formidable spike jutting from his elbow. The blond sighed, turning his hand this way and that. Lowering his hand, he used the other to touch at his claws, feeling how hard the armored portions were and how sleek and smooth the darkness felt. He could feel how the scales delicately and subtly joined one another. For some odd reason, he was fantasizing how it would look, maybe even feel, to rake his claws through something soft and wriggling. He knew the thought shouldn't be appealing, but for some reason it was. It was most likely some deep-seated instinct.

He glanced away from his clawed fingers towards the small window at the night sky and his brows knit together. There was something…calling from a distance outside. "...?" Moving towards the window on his right, he looked out towards the _park_. He could hear something keening off in the distance, slightly muffled by the rustle of tree branches but still audible. His thoughts went back to the day he had gotten bitten by what he could only assume was another like him. Was that them? Why were they making a ruckus? He wondered if the hunters were still combing through the woods, they probably weren't if that other one was so confident in trumpeting to the neighborhood that he was around. A dangerous and incorrigible thought came to mind.

'_Do I throw caution to the wind and investigate or what?' _Jonouchi debated that with himself. His curiosity would not let him sleep tonight, he knew that much. His stomach twisted in anxious knots with every distant cry. He wanted to see another up close. Perhaps they had been changed for much longer and maybe knew things he could pick up. Then again, it could be dangerous but he wouldn't know unless he went and saw for himself. Alone. _'No guts, no glory. Besides, I can't stay locked up forever here. Yugi would agree. Maybe I __**need **__to go and find others anyway. Maybe I need to even…'_

Find others and do what? The most likely, though unpleasant thought, would be to just leave for somewhere else, wherever that would be. Humans weren't exactly ready to start embracing dragon-people, he was sure. They had a hard enough time embracing each other, so what hope would some new race really have? Jonouchi frowned, not having really considered it that deeply. Not to mention, he couldn't stay in the attic forever, burdening Yugi and his family with his safe keeping. He sighed shakily. As long as he was there, they were at some sort of risk, whether from outside or…from himself.

Growling, he turned his head to listen to the activity downstairs. The shop had closed hours ago and he could hear at least one television on. That was most likely Yugi's grandpa, the old man liked to sit in bed wearing his pajamas and watch the tube before passing out for the night. After he was out, Yugi was usually the one to cut the television off and turn in as well. Waiting, he listened for when the television was turned off as well as the soft click of lights going out. Everyone was in bed. Before he made his move, he gave it around an hour to make sure they were fast asleep. Licking his lips, Jonouchi stood and ambled across the attic, trying to be as quiet as his bulky form could be. If the floor didn't groan under his weight, then his claws clicked on the wood in a most frustrating manner. It was a feat though, to make it down the stairs with creaking and clicking at a minimal and avoiding knocking any pictures from the wall. His heart was pounding anxiously as he made his way into the kitchen to head for the back door._ 'So far, so good…'_

"And where do you think you're going, Jo?" A tired but firm voice questioned from behind. The blond froze and looked over his shoulder, seeing Yugi in a black tank top and grey sweatpants. His friend was frowning deeply at him, eyes half closed. The dragonkin's shoulders slumped for a moment, his head hung with defeat before he composed himself and turned to him.

"I hear somethin' I just gotta check out, Yugi. I'll be careful." Jonouchi assured calmly, his anxiety evaporating since he no longer had to try and be sneaky on his way out.

"Like what?" The still shorter man furrowed his brow at that, eyes widening slightly, wondering what would have the blond going out when he was supposed to be minding his safety.

"I think…It's another one. Out in the park. Might even be the one that got me."

Yugi didn't like the sound of that, though he couldn't blame him for wanting to investigate. Like Jonouchi, he had considered a lot of the same things and he knew at some point, his friend would have to connect with others at some point. Now was better than later, perhaps. At least then he would not wind up becoming somehow comfortable living in the attic. "Well…You might want to try to bundle up a little. It's cool and breezy out…But I'm not sure if, well, you know…" Jonouchi had complained earlier about how cold the attic seemed now and then, though he had never noticed that himself. He had a feeling cold weather was not good for whatever his friend had become. The blond frowned, considering that. There wasn't much that they could wrap him up in, so they had resorted to taking scissors to various maroon blankets to fashion them into strips to wrap around his frame and limbs. Somehow, they would have to figure out how to cool Mrs. Motou's jets over the mangled sheets later. Despite Yugi's protests, Jonouchi took the opportunity to shed the trunks and settled for a wide wrap around his hips that was considerably more comfortable.

After they got him wrapped up like a red and black mummy, he gave his old friend a grin and a thumbs up. "I'll be careful, don't worry. And I'll come back before morning at least, whether I find anythin' or not. If for some reason I don't make it back, don't come lookin' for me. If they maul me, then they'll definitely maul you." Once he got the hesitant go ahead despite his less than assuring words, he went out the backdoor and stepped outside. Like Yugi had said, it was definitely cool…Actually it felt more frigid to him than he wagered it did to his friend and he blamed the steady bursts of wind that made the cool air all the colder. The wind always made it chillier than it really was. Hearing another call, he dropped on all four and surveyed the area. It wasn't too terribly late but the coast looked clear. He broke out into a run, dashing for the park and beyond that, the woods while his friend watched him go with worry from the kitchen window.

* * *

><p>The woods looked much different under the dark veil of night. It took some time as he went for his eyes to adjust, grateful that the nearly full moon provided some manner of natural light. Yugi had offered a flashlight as he had gotten ready for the trek, but he had declined. The flashlight would draw too much attention, he figured. It was bad enough a beast like him was galumphing through the area as it was. He sounded like an elephant stomping around almost. Without the eye catching light, the maroon cloth wraps and his black scales were bound to help camouflage him a little, or so he reasoned.<p>

The calling sound seemed closer after what he figured had to be a half hour of moving along, but now he could swear he was hearing different sounds, like a conversation going back and forth. _'More than one?' _Jonouchi wasn't sure, but it worried him. They could assume he was an intruder in their territory and attack en masse. It was also worrying because he didn't like the idea of a handful of them close to a town, where they stood a higher chance of running into a human which would be anything but good. The further he went, the wilder the flora seemed to get and he had a feeling he was well on his way towards crossing the city limits if he hadn't already. Eventually, he came across what looked like a large, old and weather beaten house that seemed abandoned.

Or so it seemed at first glance.

Having adjusted fully to the moonlit night by the time he reached the unkempt clearing, his eyes looked over the house from a distance, seated in some shrubbery. It was a typical Japanese styled house that once had a gated wall. A majority of the wall, made up of wood for the most part, had been torn down. It almost seemed trampled on even. There were claw and pock marks along the walls outside as well as slashed up edges along the overhanging roof portions, suggesting something had made a routine of climbing up and down. Some of the wood slats that lined the walls were hanging off, most likely broken away by the weight of the climber…or climbers. The various windows were broken and the front door was utterly wrecked. Anxiety filled him, eyes continuing to survey the signs of occupancy. There were bones, mostly eaten carcasses here and there. Deer if he had to make a guess, maybe even stray dogs. As far as he could tell, nothing human had been eaten. Hopefully.

Sniffing, putting his newly strengthened sense of smell to work, the wind was making it hard to pinpoint anything. There was a distinct, almost sweet musky scent on the air that was much different from his own and it was even in the bushes he found himself sitting in that he could make out. He had a feeling that strong smell pretty much permeated the area.

He noticed the calls had stopped, but he had the feeling eyes were on him now. So they had taken notice of his intrusion? Perhaps they were studying him now, just like he was doing to their abode. The blond stopped studying the house to really take in the rest of the surroundings as he tensed up. The movement of the trees and grass played tricks on his eyes, making it hard to determine whether anything was out there moving about. A quick glance around him didn't reveal much either. As he looked back towards the large rundown house, he perked up slightly, seeing something finally move inside. There was a movement in the downstairs, past the broken door and as he looked upward, he noticed someone was staring back at him. _'More than one.' _Jonouchi confirmed, trying to study the face in the shadows and coming up short on recognition. He could see how their lips curled back, baring their teeth in his direction and judging by the way their face twitched, they were most likely hissing at him.

'_Showing teeth is usually an aggressive thing, ain't it?' _Thinking back to a cat, he figured it was that or defensive. He was the intruder, so naturally they were on the defensive. The blond looked away, back to the door and saw another silhouette. There were at least two of them but he had a feeling he was missing something. Someone else was watching him, he was certain of it, but he had no idea where the hell they were. His brows furrowed. Turning his head to the right, unable to hear much beyond the aggravated rustle of windblown trees, he found himself staring at another set of eyes, cold and grey, a head of pitch black hair as well as a threatening set of teeth no more than two feet away.

'_Oh, fuck me sideways…'_

End of chapter 4


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